If the Tea Party thinks you’re too racist for their ranks, where do you go from there? Has Sarah Palinfound someone to replace her spokeswoman yet?

Those questions don’t have to be mutually exclusive, if you get my drift.

Oh … I’m so coy.

Also, I’m not going to bother making anymore jokes about “refudiate” this afternoon. The trend went from 0 to lame in about six hours.

Speaking of lame, how about this roundup?

1. First things first, take some time to read through The Washington Post‘s massive investigative project about “Top Secret America,” a system designed to keep the U.S. safe that has grown “so massive that its effectiveness is impossible to determine.” (Blackink)

2. Spencerexplains why Muslims are under no obligation to reject a mosque at Ground Zero. (Shani-o)

3. According to the most recent numbers, Nate Silverpredicts the Senate will convene in 2011 with “an average of 53.4 Democrats (counting Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders), 46.1 Republicans, and 0.5 Charlie Crists.” Meanwhile, Rebecca Kaplanthinks that Democrats need not fear the ghosts of the ’94 midterms. (Blackink)

4. Researchers in South Africa have found that a gel applied by women before and after sex can dramatically reduce the risk of AIDS and herpes. “It is the first time an HIV-prevention method controlled entirely by women, who bear the brunt of the epidemic in Africa, has been shown to work.” (Blackink)

5. Jaclyn Friedmanmuses about Al Gore, sexual assault and what the media should have done with the story. Here’s the Portland Tribune‘s take on things. (Blackink)

6. Mississippi Public Radio will no longer hostTerry Gross‘s “Fresh Air” because her voice is too sexy, and she uses it to talk about sexy sex with sexy guests. (Monica)

7. The Arpaio approach to immigration could lead to a surge in violent crime. But you probably already knew that. (Blackink)

9. Pharyngulaexplores the idea of interpreting the Bible as a metaphor rather than “a literal description of a hallowed reality.” But PZ Myersacknowledges that doing so “rips the heart right out of Christianity, and makes central dogmas of faith untenable and painfully ridiculous.” (Belleisa)

10. Pema Levyargues that gun control laws need to become a feminist issue. (And if you don’t believe her, check out the comments where gun advocates argue for a perversion of feminism, insisting that women should have guns so that they can shoot their abusers…and that somehow, that will make everyone safer.) (Shani-o)

12. Pulitzer Prize-winner Lane DeGregoryrevisits the grisly tale of a teen boy, the two girls that loved him and their final bloody – and fatal – confrontation. (Blackink)

13. The family of a Houston-area firefighter who died in a recent blaze is fighting to keep his widow from collecting his death benefits, arguing that the 37-year-old fire captain left her after finding out she was born a man. (Blackink)

14. Apparently, buying green products gives people internal moral authority to drive SUVs. And exercising makes people think they can have a whole pint of Ben & Jerry’s. (Monica)

15. Who cares if you can get high-energy ethanol from corn when corn isn’t truly sustainable? (Shani-o)

18. A small sample of whitewashing in Hollywood. (Missing: Liz Taylor as “Cleopatra”, Natalie Wood as Maria in “West Side Story”, Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at “Tiffany’s”…) (Shani-o)

19. Over 3 years, the RIAA spent about $64 million in legal and investigative expenses to recover about $1.4 million. That’s budgeting that would embarrass even MC Hammer. (Blackink)

20. When book covers go bad, or better, when publishers hope to profit off of brand confusion. “Jane Eyre” is totally about vampires right? (Belleisa)

21. How Terry Kniessoutsmarted everyone and made the perfect bid on “The Price is Right.” (Blackink)

22. Donald Gloveris Childish Gambino. Because he doesn’t have enough jobs, apparently. “People were asking, ‘Why’s his voice so high? Why is he rapping about Tina Fey? That’s not going to get you any street cred … Rapping was just something I liked.” (Blackink)

24. At Jerry Rice‘s alma mater, times are hard. Really hard. Mississippi “Valley (State) won’t play at Itta Bena this year, instead playing three ‘home’ games some 45 miles away at Greenville-Weston High School’s Kerg Field.” (Blackink)

25. And because we haven’t talked about LeBron nearly enough, Michael Jordanremains a grumpy old man. Kelly Dwyer ofYahoo! Sportssays LeBron made the right move. Also, Yahoo!offers an inside look at the Heat’s free-agent coup. (Blackink)

Joel Anderson —blackink — writes about sports, politics, crime, courts, and other issues far beyond his competence at BuzzFeed. He has worked at media outlets in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Atlanta and contributed to a number of publications, including The Root and The American Prospect, among many others.

I read a transcript of the interview that Mississippi Public Radio is upset about and this ban is silly on those grounds. Now if they had banned Fresh Air on the grounds that Terry Gross is annoying as hell then I’d be in their corner.

Russ

Re: #3–Rebecca Kaplan is also running for mayor of Oakland!

Scipio Africanus

#18 – Cleopatra was a Hellenic Ptolemy. The main thing about her isn’t what color she was, but the fact that she was described as being *not* particularly beautiful.

And there are Puerto Ricans who look like Natalie Wood.

Darth Paul

#10 – REJECTED. Women are likely to die violently at the hands of a man than another man *period*. Insinuating nanny gun bans would only make these victims die other ways besides guns, like strangling, stabbing, etc. In short, the cause of the disease must be addressed, not the symptoms.

#15 and #19 – Disgusting.

#18 – they totally listed Rooney/B@T’s!

April

They also mentioned Liz Taylor as Cleopatra.

BlackLizLemon

Y’all know y’all ain’t worth a damn for the title of this post, right?